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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27666058">in every goddamn universe</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyintherain/pseuds/dyintherain'>dyintherain</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff and Crack, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Multiverse, Soulmates</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:49:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,999</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27666058</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyintherain/pseuds/dyintherain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“You seem to bump into him a lot in the multiverse,” Taeyong says with a laugh, shifting sideways on the couch then propping his legs up on Doyoung’s lap.</p><p>“I fucking know, right?” Doyoung replies through a mouthful of popcorn. “You’d think with the infinite number of universes there is, I’d at least get to visit one where he doesn’t exist.”</p><p>Taeyong snorts. “Maybe he’s your soulmate.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Nakamoto Yuta</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>265</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Challenge #3 — soulmates</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>in every goddamn universe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Doyoung blinks into consciousness with his mouth pressed open against Yuta's neck. </p><p><em> Fuck</em>.</p><p>“<em>Not again,”  </em>he groans, his head hitting the headboard as he scrambles to push Yuta off his lap. There’s a faint thud, followed by Yuta’s “Doyoung? What the fuck?”</p><p>Doyoung ignores him, closes his eyes instead and tries to focus on his breathing. Waking up in another universe is always disorienting, but especially so when he arrives in it already engaged in… <em> activity.</em> </p><p>“What the fuck?” Yuta says again. Doyoung opens his eyes to find him sprawled out on the floor, rubbing his butt. “That <em> hurt</em>.”</p><p>“Sorry,” Doyoung mutters, only half-meaning it.</p><p>Of all the people he could see and places he could go in the multiverse, he still often ends up in another version of his room, with another version of Yuta. It’s getting annoying, honestly. But at least this time he still had his clothes on.</p><p>Doyoung looks around, taking stock of his surroundings. He always tests his senses first, no matter what situation he finds himself in when he arrives in a new universe: the sight of the room, nearly identical with his own back home, a Yuta with shorter hair, dyed platinum and disheveled, the smell of lavender coming from a humidifier, the faint aftertaste of matcha on his tongue, and the lingering feeling of Yuta’s hands—<em>ugh</em>.</p><p>Meanwhile, Yuta pulls his body up from the floor and plops back down to bed, his hands coming down at Doyoung’s either side, locking him in. </p><p>Doyoung swallows, and Yuta follows the bob of his Adam’s apple with his gaze. “What the fuck was that, Kim?”</p><p>“Nothing,” Doyoung manages to let out, despite his heart waging a war against him in his rib cage.</p><p>Yuta bites his lip, then moves so quickly forward that Doyoung doesn’t get the chance to dodge or turn his cheek. Doyoung doesn’t get the chance to process, too, how soft Yuta’s lips were, before he feels his tongue against his own and he’s tasting matcha on his mouth. </p><p><em>Oh, </em>Doyoung could only think, <em>so</em> <em>that’s </em>where <em>the aftertaste came from</em>.</p><p>♡</p><p>“You seem to bump into him a lot in the multiverse,” Taeyong says with a laugh, shifting sideways on the couch then propping his legs up on Doyoung’s lap.</p><p>“I fucking know, right?” Doyoung replies through a mouthful of popcorn. “You’d think with the <em> infinite </em>number of universes there is, I’d at least get to visit one where he doesn’t exist.”</p><p>Taeyong snorts. “Maybe he’s your soulmate.”</p><p>“Don’t be ridiculous. <em> You’re </em>my soulmate, Yong,” Doyoung says with a pout.</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, best friends forever and all that,” Taeyong waves a hand and Doyoung throws a kernel at him. “Now shut up, my favorite part’s coming up.”</p><p>Doyoung turns back to the screen just in time for Rapunzel to hit Flinn Ryder with a frying pan.</p><p>♡</p><p>“What’s it like? Being able to travel?”</p><p>Yuta’s sudden question startles Doyoung. They’re in the library, sitting across from each other and silently working on a class report they’ve been randomly partnered up for.</p><p>(Even in his home universe, Doyoung can’t catch a break.)</p><p>He stares at Yuta for a beat. “You know we don’t have to do small talk, right?”</p><p>Yuta rolls his eyes. “I was genuinely curious, but never mind.”</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>What <em> is </em> it like? Doyoung has never really considered it, being born with the ability and all. <em> Travelling </em>is what his world casually calls it, being able to hop from one universe to another. It’s just his consciousness that technically travels though, and he can only go to a universe where he (or strictly speaking, an alternate version of himself) already exists. </p><p>He says as much to Yuta.</p><p>“Well, I knew <em> that</em>,” Yuta quips.</p><p>Nakamoto Yuta from home has black hair, the kind that almost looks deep blue when the sun shines on it just right, and it falls almost to his eyes and touches his shoulders at the back (…<em>maybe</em>, Doyoung doesn’t really pay that much attention). </p><p>He looks so much like the Yuta from the last universe that Doyoung is immediately assaulted with flashes of sweatshirt hems, tousled platinum blond hair, flushed cheeks—</p><p>He shakes his head clear of the memory.</p><p>“—meant was, how does it… feel like?” the Yuta in front of him now is saying.</p><p>“Uhm, it’s alright.” Doyoung coughs. “I mean, I haven’t really been to any… unusual universes yet. Mostly just identical worlds with ours,” he explains with a shrug.</p><p>Yuta looks at him thoughtfully. “Still, that must be so cool, though.”</p><p>“I guess,” Doyoung attempts at nonchalance, even though he can feel his cheeks heat up. Travelling is such a normal part of him that it doesn’t really occur to him often that it <em> is </em>pretty cool. And now he feels a little guilty, especially when he looks at Yuta and finds him staring back, barely concealed wonder in his eyes. Doyoung knows that a lot of people would give anything to be able to experience the multiverse, and even though he’s only ever seen worlds with not much significant difference from home, he can’t imagine living life only having been to one.</p><p>“It’s cool, I feel lucky to be able to do it,” he adds quietly after a while.</p><p>“Do you get to see a lot of the same people?” Yuta asks, and of course this is the same time that Doyoung's also taking a sip from his iced coffee.</p><p>“Yeah… uhm, a few,” he lets out with a cough, thumping his chest.</p><p>He sees Yuta open his mouth again, probably for a follow-up question but Doyoung cuts him off, “Can we just get back to the report?” </p><p>Yuta puts his hands up. “Right, sorry.”</p><p>A beat of silence passes.</p><p>“It’s just—” Yuta starts again, and Doyoung rolls his eyes heavenward. “<em>What now? </em>”</p><p>“They say that’s how you recognize your soulmate, right? The people you’re always drawn to, or like… always in your life no matter what universe you’re in.”</p><p>“Yeah, mine’s Taeyong,” Doyoung says automatically.</p><p>“Oh.” Yuta bites his lip. “So, like, you see him in every universe?”</p><p>Doyoung nods, keeping his eyes on the laptop in front of him.</p><p>The truth is, he’s only ever seen Taeyong once in the 127 worlds he has visited so far in his life, and <em> that Taeyong </em> didn’t even recognize him. It weighs heavy on his heart, thinking that this might be the only world where they’re each other’s favorite person. </p><p><em> Fuck soulmates though</em>, Doyoung thinks.</p><p>“That must be nice,” Yuta says. “I wonder who I’d always see if I could go to different worlds.”</p><p>Doyoung bites back a chuckle and mutters under his breath. “You don’t want to know.”</p><p>♡</p><p>This Yuta has the same black hair, but littered with thin green streaks all throughout. Doyoung (hates to) thinks it looks so good that he makes a mental note to suggest this style to Home Yuta, until he remembers they don’t really talk about this kind of stuff.</p><p>“<em>You’re </em>not my Doyoung,” Yuta with green highlights tells him with narrowed eyes.</p><p>Doyoung sighs. “Oh, you’re one of <em> those</em>.” </p><p>From time to time, he encounters people who can see a person’s original soul. His Taeyong from home is one, actually, but he’s never met any other traveler besides Doyoung. “Yeah... I’m not. Sorry,” Doyoung admits to the Yuta in front of him.</p><p>This universe is so freakishly similar to home, which is really saying something. He’s even sitting across from Yuta in the same library, working on the same report, a day later. If only the multiverse shares a cloud, so he can just upload his progress and pick up where he leaves off when he’s back home. <em> Sigh.</em> Travelling is fun, but it can also be such a fucking nuisance.</p><p>“I’ve never met a traveler before. This is so cool,” Yuta exclaims.</p><p>“Can we just get back to the report?” Doyoung whines. He wonders how many times he’ll have to say this to all the Yuta’s in the multiverse.</p><p>“Man,” Yuta’s shaking his head, “Doyoung would <em> freak </em>when he finds out he got possessed.”</p><p>Doyoung’s mouth drops open. “I am not possessing him! God, you make me sound like a demon.” </p><p>Yuta laughs at him. Doyoung notes how different it is, how he never gets this kind of laugh from his own Yuta—er, from the Yuta from his <em> own </em>universe. Which must mean… “So, you’re close?” he asks Yuta.</p><p>Yuta looks at him weirdly. “Me and my Doyoung? Yeah, we’re <em> close</em>,” he scoffs, in a tone that Doyoung can tell he doesn’t want to know more. “Wait, are you not? In your home universe?”</p><p>Doyoung just shakes his head.</p><p>“But I exist there?” Yuta asks.</p><p>“Unfortunately.”</p><p>Yuta glares at him then leans back on his chair. “I can’t imagine that we’re not… That’s so weird.”</p><p><em> Is it? </em>Doyoung thinks. For the longest time, he’s always thought that it was all the other universes that <em> was </em> weird.</p><p>“Why do you hate him?” Yuta suddenly asks. Doyoung blinks at him, caught off-guard by the question.</p><p>“I--I don’t <em> hate </em>him.”</p><p>“You just said <em> unfortunately </em>when I asked you if I exist in your universe,” Yuta retorts with a raised brow.</p><p>“That’s just… out of habit,” Doyoung admits, more to himself than the Yuta in front of him. Now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t really know why he pretends to be so annoyed with Yuta back at home. “Why are we so close in this universe, anyway?” he asks.</p><p>“I shared my lunch box with you one day in fifth grade, when you were crying because you forgot your own.”</p><p>Doyoung pauses—in his own memories from home, he remembers a tiny Yuta skipping toward him on the playground tables, holding his lunch box; tiny Doyoung pausing his crying as he watched, entranced by how the sun was directly shining above Yuta’s head, like a halo; and then Yuta finally stopping by his seat, spilling over the whole content of his lunch box onto Doyoung’s neatly pressed and pristine white uniform.</p><p><em> Now </em>Doyoung remembers why.</p><p>“You spilled that box all over me, in my world.” </p><p>“What? Oh my god, I <em> do </em> remember almost tripping then but I kept my balance!” Yuta exclaims, a little too loudly that the librarian shushes him. He throws a sheepish grin her way then turns back and leans closer to whisper to Doyoung, “So yours is the universe where I didn’t.”</p><p>Doyoung shrugs.</p><p>“Man,” Yuta leans back against his chair again. “You and that Yuta could have had a whole relationship if only he hadn’t tripped?”</p><p><em> Damn that Yuta</em>, Doyoung thinks, not for the first time in his life.</p><p>♡</p><p>Yuta arrives in the library just as Doyoung finishes typing up his half of their report. (From memory, from the other universe. That Yuta actually had a lot to contribute.)</p><p>“I’m done with my part, although I may be going back later to proofread and edit some more,” Doyoung says as a greeting, snapping his laptop shut. </p><p>“Oh, great,” Yuta replies as he puts down his backpack on the table. “Wait, are you leaving now?”</p><p>Doyoung nods. “I have a make-up class. Just let me know when you’re done with yours,” he reminds Yuta, then stands up and shoulders his bag. </p><p>“Oh, I actually finished mine yesterday.”</p><p>“Then why did you still come here?”</p><p>“I wanted to see y—uhm, see how far along you are with yours.”</p><p>Doyoung rolls his eyes. “They invented email just for that.” He starts to walk away, but a thought suddenly occurs to him.  “Uhm, hey Yuta?”</p><p>Yuta looks up at him. “Yeah?”</p><p>“That day on the playground, did you… did you mean to share your lunch with me?”</p><p>Yuta breathes out a laugh. “What? You mean fifth grade? Yeah, why, what did you think I was—oh my god, did you think I spilled my lunch on you <em> on purpose? </em>”</p><p>Doyoung feels his cheeks heat up.</p><p>“Is <em> that </em> why you’ve been hostile to me all this time?”</p><p>“I have—I have <em> not </em>been hostile to you,” Doyoung protests. “…All this time,” he adds meekly when Yuta raises an eyebrow at him.</p><p>“God, I’ve been wondering what I ever did to you, and it turns out you’ve been holding <em> that </em> over my head?” Yuta shakes his head and clutches at his chest mockingly. “<em>Wait </em>… what made you think of it now?”</p><p>Doyoung opens his mouth to explain, but Yuta suddenly points a finger at him. “You talked to another Yuta in another universe, didn’t you?”</p><p>“I—”</p><p>Yuta chuckles.</p><p>Doyoung sighs and sits back down. “Fine, I did. And I guess…” he draws out the word as Yuta smiles teasingly. “I guess, I owe you an apology. I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Apology accepted,” Yuta smiles then bangs a closed fist on the table.</p><p>(‘Shhh,’ the librarian hisses. <em> In every goddamn universe, </em>Doyoung thinks.) </p><p>“Sorry,” he mouths at her then turns back to Doyoung. “So, you saw me in another universe, huh? What was I like?”</p><p>“Insufferable,” Doyoung says, then catches himself. (It’s a hard habit to break.) “And with green highlights. Better than platinum, in my opinion.”</p><p>Doyoung realizes his slip up at the same time that Yuta grins in shock. “You’ve seen me in <em> two </em>different universes?”</p><p>“I didn’t say that,” Doyoung stands up in a rush. “Bye!” he calls as he almost sprints out of the library.</p><p>♡</p><p>“I have to tell you something.”</p><p>Doyoung is jolted awake by Yuta’s voice. They’re in the library, yet again, for hopefully the last time this semester. “Don’t tell me you’ve accidentally deleted our report or something,” Doyoung murmurs, a bit groggily.</p><p>“Were you <em> sleeping</em>?” Yuta whispers.</p><p>Doyoung widens his eyes and straightens in his seat. “<em>No</em>. What is it?”</p><p>Yuta leans closer until there’s just Doyoung’s laptop screen between their faces. “I’m not from this universe.” Doyoung shakes his head, trying to clear away the last bit of sleep that’s still clinging to him. “<em>What? </em>”</p><p>Yuta backs away and folds his arms on the table. “I just got here, I’m a traveler.” Doyoung scrunches his eyebrows. For a moment, he wonders whether <em> he’s </em>in another universe, but no, there are always tells when he’s not home... </p><p>
  <em> Huh. </em>
</p><p>“I’ve never met you before,” Doyoung says after a beat. He remembers Yuta with the green highlights, saying <em>Doyoung would </em> freak <em> when he finds out he got possessed </em> and wonders the same about Home Yuta.</p><p>“You’re a traveler too?” Yuta asks.</p><p>“Yeah, this is my home body.” Doyoung bites his lip. He knows there’s a traveler Yuta somewhere in the multiverse, but he never really considered that they would cross paths, and in his home universe no less. “Do you…” he clears his throat. “Do you see me a lot? In other universes?”</p><p>Yuta’s face lights up. “Y-yes…?” he answers, the word coming off more like a question.</p><p>“Oh, me too,” Doyoung admits quietly.</p><p>“In my home universe, I’m in--I have a crush on you,” traveler Yuta blurts out.</p><p>“Wh-what?” Doyoung stammers, even though it’s not really news to him at this point. (For god’s sake, he blinked into that one universe with Yuta deep in—<em> never mind</em>.)</p><p>“Yeah, but uhm,” traveler Yuta fidgets in his seat. “In the worlds I’ve been to, you’ve never really liked me back.”</p><p>Doyoung opens and closes his mouth, trying to think of something to say.</p><p>“And I guess,” Yuta continues. “It’s the same case here, too?” He stares at him, and maybe it’s the weight of that stare that makes Doyoung say out loud what he’s been pushing into a corner of his mind for a while now.</p><p>“I’m… I’m not so sure about that.”</p><p>♡</p><p>Taeyong saunters over to their table, oblivious of the tension. “Doie, I’ve been waiting outside for half an hour now! You ready for lunch?”</p><p>Doyoung turns to look at him, still dazed. “Uhm, I--Sorry, yeah.” He moves to stand up but gets caught on the charger wire connecting his laptop to the outlet under the table.</p><p>“<em>Fuck</em>, fuck.”</p><p>Taeyong giggles quietly beside him. “Are you alright? You look a bit shaken.”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s just--” Doyoung gestures vaguely at Yuta’s end of the table. </p><p>“Oh hey, Yuta,” Taeyong greets him, “didn’t see you there.”</p><p>“That’s traveller Yuta,” Doyoung says, untangling his charger.</p><p>Taeyong scoffs. “No, he’s not. That’s Yuta from this universe.”</p><p>Doyoung’s head quickly snaps up. “What?”</p><p>Yuta awkwardly coughs. “Uhm wow, what happened. Whoa, traveller Yuta was here?” he says in a monotone as Doyoung glares at him.</p><p>“You little shit!” Doyoung exclaims, just as the librarian turns around the corner. She and Yuta shush him at the same time.</p><p>“Okay, what’s happening?” Taeyong asks. Yuta is biting his lip, clearly trying to keep himself from laughing. A slice of sunlight is shining through the window, past the shelves to their right and hitting the side of Yuta’s face. Doyoung tries hard to grasp at thin threads of annoyance he knows he’s supposed to feel.</p><p>“Okay,” Yuta puts a hand up. “I’m <em> sorry </em> but I was just curious when I found out you’ve seen me in other universes. And I know you won’t admit to it if you know I’m the one you’re talking to. I didn’t expect…” he trails off, just as Taeyong chuckles.</p><p>“Oh yeah, he sees you in every goddamn universe.”</p><p>Doyoung half-glares at his best friend. “Maybe you should wait outside again.”</p><p>Taeyong laughs, walking backwards. “Actually, I think I’m just gonna have lunch by myself. See you later, Doie.”</p><p>“Lee Taeyong!”</p><p>“Hey, for what it’s worth,” Yuta says, drawing Doyoung’s attention back to him. “I meant what I said about my home universe.”</p><p>Doyoung covers his face with his hands, groaning. But when he lowers them back down, he can’t help the smile that slips out. “You’re going to get even more annoying, aren’t you?”</p><p>“<em>Not so sure about that</em>, huh?” Yuta just smirks, quoting what Doyoung said just a few moments ago.</p><p>“Oh god.” </p><p><em> Fuck soulmates, </em>Doyoung thinks out of habit.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hello~ this universe is inspired by Claudia Gray’s Firebird trilogy! thank you to my beta reader (ado!) and my friend curisu for reading this over before submission. and to alw mods—i greatly enjoyed my first fic fest experience. thank u for organizing and running this!</p><p>twt: do0_yuu<br/>cc: dyintherain</p><p>also check out this <a href="https://twitter.com/then_coffee/status/1338106857441820672?s=20">super cute fanart </a> from <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/yawawoo">andthencoffee</a> ♡</p></blockquote></div></div>
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